Conical to columnar tree to 10 m or so tall with dense crown. Bark red-brown, fissured and shed in large plates. Buds small, pointed, resinous, scales pressed down to slightly spreading. Young shoots densely covered with orange-brown hairs. Leaves in 5's, 5-8 cm long with white waxy band on inner face, rigid; sheaths deciduous. Male cones Oct. Female cones ovoid 5-7 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, soft, solitary, almost terminal, always closed on the tree. Seeds 1 cm long with a minute wing.

Occasionally available in nurseries, it demands a cool, high altitude site for good growth.

C Europe (Alps & Carpathians).

Young shoots covered with rusty hair.

VIC: Heidelberg (Southern Rd, 1 tree 5 m tall).

Source: Spencer, R. (1995). Pinaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.